On January 1st, the Trump administration’s planned restrictions on travel from Burkina Faso, Laos, Mali, Niger, Sierra Leone, South Sudan, and Syria went into effect. The travel ban restricts all entry from citizens of 19 countries and with Palestinian-Authority issued travel documents. It also places partial restrictions on nationals of 20 countries. This expansion builds upon a travel ban announced in June, which blocked individuals from 12 countries from entering the US while imposing significant entry restrictions for seven other countries. It will not affect any current Dana Hall Students.
The Trump administration announced a plan to expand its citizen travel ban to more than 30 countries on December 6. Following a meeting with President Trump, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem recommended the increase of the number of countries on the list, advocating for a “full travel ban” on “every damn country that’s been flooding our nation with killers, leeches, and entitlement junkies.”
Her proposal came soon after the shooting of two National Guard members on November 26 in Washington DC, leaving the 20-year-old Sarah Beckstrom dead and the 24-year-old Andrew Wolfe critically injured. The suspect, 29-year-old Rahmanullah Lakanwal, reportedly came to the US from Afghanistan in September 2021 under former President Biden’s program, Operation Allies Welcome, for Afghan immigrants.
The Department of Homeland Security has described Lakanwal as “a criminal alien from Afghanistan” and suspended the processing of all Afghan immigration requests on the day of the shooting. President Trump has called the shooting an “act of terror” and “a crime against humanity” and later said he would “permanently pause migration” to the US from all “third-world countries.”
According to Noem, the president “is continuing to evaluate countries” as the administration seeks to ensure that those entering or already in the country do not pose a security threat. Joseph Edlow, the director of US Citizenship and Immigration Services, said on X that asylum decisions will be paused “until we can ensure that every alien is vetted and screened to the maximum degree possible.” However, the administration has not yet released any formal guidance or plans about this motion.
As the Trump administration has continued to ramp up its crackdown on immigration following the November 26 shooting, critics have referred to the new measures as a collective punishment that is traumatizing people who have already gone through extensive vetting to enter the US. Immigrant advocates have also argued that the bans are targeting citizens of African and Muslim countries.
Image Source: CBS News